Father Of Teen Hit By Car Calls For Increased Safety At Intersection
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The family of a 14-year-old boy that was hit by a distracted driver is speaking out.
The eighth grader was on his bike crossing Pioneer Trail at Bailey Ridge Drive in Woodbury yesterday morning when he was hit by a woman driving a Suburban. Woodbury Police say they believe she was on her phone.
The victim's family is now calling for change at the busy intersection.
Don Klein's 14-year-old son was biking to Lake Middle School that morning -- something he's done for years.
"He remembers entering the intersection, he remembers a car faintly coming, and that's about the last of it," Klein said.
The boy was hit by a 24-year-old woman driving an SUV. Police say she was distracted. Several neighbors saw the accident and called Klein.
"I wasn't prepared for it," he said. "You're never prepared for something like that."
Klein says the intersection has been a point of discussion with the school district after the crossing guard was removed before the academic year.
"We would like to see something like that restored," he said. "A number of families in the area, just because everybody is a little bit freaked out right now, since it could have been one of their own kids."
The boy was taken to Regions Hospital and had surgery Friday night. He'll spend a couple of more days at Children's after he suffered a broken femur and he has some bleeding on his brain, but he is expected to be OK.
"Neighbors that saw him said he went maybe 30 or 40 feet," Klein said. "Just to have a conversation with him, I'm blown away."
Klein says the district has reached out to him after the accident. He is hoping something can be done to make the intersection safer.
"Hopefully something like this will be a catalyst for change .52 ..."
The Klein's ask we not use their son's name. His dad says his son normally wears a helmet, but he was not wearing one at the time of the accident.
Police say charges are pending for the woman that was on her phone when she hit the boy.
